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What is stiff-person disease?

According to Dr. Arnold Pineda, there are only two people in the Philippines suffering from it. Richard is the third.

He used to be a construction worker who was wounded in the construction site in 2016. He did not tell anybody about it and self-medicated. But when Richard started limping and had occasional fainting spells, his mother Agnes wondered. She offered to take Richard to the doctor but it was only when his condition worsened did he agreed.

According to the National Inssitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, patients of SPS usually complain of “fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs. He also experienced heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms.”

It’s what Richard complains of. He is unable to open his palms and is in constant pain – as though his bones are being broken, Richard tried to describe the pain.